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EMSC NRC Partners

To help achieve the ambitious goal of ensuring the very best pediatric medical care possible, the EMSC NRC partners with the EMSC Data Coordinating Center (DCC). Based at the University of Utah, the DCC is also funded through the federal EMSC Program. The Center has two major functions.

Serve as the National EMSC Data Analysis Resource Center (NEDARC) to help accredited schools of medicine and state governments develop their own capabilities to collect, analyze, and utilize EMS and other healthcare data to improve the quality of care in state EMS and trauma systems. NEDARC has a comprehensive website that includes resources for EMSC grantees and researchers.

In addition, under the direction of the federal EMSC Program, the EMSC NRC partners with numerous other federal agencies and national organizations to improve the emergency medical care of children through the exchange of knowledge, implementation of activities, and development of tools and resources for Program grantees and stakeholders. Following is a select list of recent collaborative projects.

In partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the EMSC Program implemented the National Pediatric Readiness Project, a multi-year, quality improvement project to ensure effective care for all children in the nation’s emergency departments. This project is still ongoing.

In partnership with ENA and the Society of Trauma Nurses, the EMSC NRC developed the Pediatric Inter Facility Transfer Toolkit, an interactive guide to support efforts in establishing agreements or memorandums of understanding to facilitate transfer of children to specialty resources when needed.

In partnership with the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), the EMSC NRC developed a national strategic partnership to encourage and market the Pediatric JumpKit Bag Initiative. The EMSC NRC encourages Family Advisory Network representatives to work with their EMSC program mangers to partner with GFWC clubs within their state. This collaborative effort can assist EMSC programs throughout the nation to acquire missing pediatric equipment for their local EMS agencies.

Through an interagency agreement, EMSC works with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to assure that pediatric considerations are iterated into all programs, policies, and projects within NHTSA's Office of EMS. Jointly, NHTSA and HRSA are working on the development and implementation of prehospital evidence-based guidelines, creating a framework for a "culture of safety" in the prehospital setting, and addressing approaches to pediatric education among EMS providers.

The Program works with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to evaluate data from the Healthcare Cost Utilization Project (HCUP) to determine nationwide patterns of disposition and patient outcomes for moderate to severely injured children.

Funding through National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is supporting the first large scale, multi-center study to help determine the best treatment for children who are successfully resuscitated after a cardiac arrest. The study, titled “Therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest (THAPCA)," is evaluating whether regulating the body temperature will improve the outcome for children after cardiac arrest. THAPCA trials are being conducted through the EMSC Program's Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network.

The Program works with the Indian Health Services to assure tribal needs are fully integrated and addressed within EMSC activities.

Since the mid-1990s, the EMSC Program has coordinated with the Interagency Committee on EMSC Research (ICER), a federal collaborative effort to improve the quality and quantity of EMSC research. One way ICER accomplishes its mission is through the development of joint research program announcements. For more information on the PAs, visit Grants.gov and search for funding opportunity PA-12-141 (R01) and PA-12-142 (R21).

NHTSA houses the legislatively-mandated Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS). This committee aims to coordinate EMS efforts among multiple federal agencies. Six FICEMS technical working groups focus on EMS-related initiatives; the EMSC Program shares a leadership role on two of these working groups: medical oversight and the research data. In addition, the EMSC Program ensures that pediatric considerations are integrated into the guidance given to FICEMS and NHTSA as members of the National EMS Advisory Committee (NEMSAC).

The EMSC NRC is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under a Cooperative Agreement for $1.5 million, grant number U07MC09174. This information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. | Contact Webmaster | Privacy Statement